It was a swan song for a lame duck.
Clint Bowyer surged past Richard Childress Racing teammate Jeff Burton through the tri-oval on the final lap at Talladega Superspeedway to win Sunday’s Good Sam Club 500.
Bowyer, who will leave RCR for Michael Waltrip Racing next season, beat Burton to the start/finish line by .018 seconds to record his first victory of the season and the fifth of his career. The win was the 100th in the Sprint Cup Series for team owner Richard Childress.
Dave Blaney, driving for the small-budget Tommy Baldwin Racing team, got a push from Brad Keselowski to finish third. Keselowski was fourth.
Brian Vickers finished fifth, followed by Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, Michael Waltrip and Martin Truex Jr. in the top 10.
Among other Chase drivers, Matt kenseth was 18th, Dale earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon finished 25th, 26th and 27th respectively.
Carl Edwards came home 11th and extended his lead in the Chase to 14 points over second-place Matt Kenseth, who finished 18th.
Pole-sitter Mark Martin finished 20th to lead a disappointing train of Hendrick drivers who continued their disappearing act from the title race this year. Dale Earnhardt Jr. ran 25th, and five-time champion Jimmie Johnson came home 26th—one spot ahead of teammate Jeff Gordon—to drop 50 points behind Edwards with four races left in the Chase. NASCAR.com
FIN CAR DRIVER MAKE 1 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 2 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 3 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 4 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 5 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 6 4 Kasey Kahne Toyota 7 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 8 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 9 115 Michael Waltrip Toyota 10 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 11 99 Carl Edwards Ford 12 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 13 0 David Reutimann Toyota 14 16 Greg Biffle Ford 15 21 Trevor Bayne Ford 16 51 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 17 13 Casey Mears Toyota 18 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 19 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 20 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet 21 38 Travis Kvapil Ford 22 34 David Gilliland Ford 23 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 24 20 Joey Logano Toyota 25 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 26 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 27 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 28 6 David Ragan Ford 29 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 30 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 31 43 A.J. Allmendinger Ford 32 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 33 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 34 32 Terry Labonte Ford 35 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 36 22 Kurt Busch Dodge 37 7 Robby Gordon Dodge 38 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 39 71 Andy Lally * Ford 40 66 Michael McDowell Toyota 41 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 42 55 J.J. Yeley Ford 43 97 Kevin Conway Toyota
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